A Man of Substance

Longtime readers of Dan Savage's sex-advice column in the Weekly and scores of other alternative publications (including the one Dan edits, The Stranger of Seattle) may recall the direct hit he took at Sen. Rick Santorum three years ago after the Pennsylvania Republican publicly equated homosexuality and bestiality. For you newbie readers, Savage organized a contest to name a sex act after the Republican senator, and the winning reader response involved a frothy substance produced after anal sex. A recent Daily Show bit even made a shout out to that substance, something Jon Stewart tried to rush through quickly due to basic-cable content protocols, but for the loud laughter of his knowing audience.

Now Savage is squaring off against Santorum--the senator, not the goo--on the religious right winger's home turf. Savage recently talked to Philadelphia Weekly about efforts to defeat Santorum's midterm re-election bid. When questioned about his take-no-prisoners crusade, Savage says, "I really feel that it's an all-hands-on-deck sort of fucking moment."